System and method for filtering content based on gestures

ABSTRACT

In order to provide filtering of content to be presented on a mobile device, a gesture-based preferencing system and method may be employed. When content is presented to a user, the user may indicate a positive or negative preference toward that content by making a gesture. The gesture may be detected by a motion sensor and the preference of the content indicated by the gesture may be stored in a preference datastore. The preference may be used to subsequently filter content that is to be presented to the user.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This disclosure relates to the provision of content to mobile devicesand in particular to systems and methods for filtering content.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As more information is made available to mobile devices, a better methodof filtering and storing preferences is required that minimizes userinvolvement. Users of mobile devices can be selective about the contentthat is displayed on their device, in particular unsolicited contentsuch as advertisements, coupons, surveys, etc. However, to indicatetheir preferences for such content, the user is typically required toperform various menu driven settings, which can be difficult to navigateand time consuming.

Existing technology requires users to navigate through a series ofscreens selecting through a list of menu items, toggling toenable/disable a choice or accepting/declining options via one or morephysical or virtual button presses to determine filtering criteria(preferences). These preferences are applied to a result set of dataoffered to the mobile device.

What is required is an improved system and method for determiningcontent preferences.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to provide filtering of content to be presented on a mobiledevice, a gesture-based preferencing system and method may be employed.When content is presented to a user, the user may indicate a positive ornegative preference toward that content by making a gesture. The gesturemay be detected by a motion sensor and the preference of the contentindicated by the gesture may be stored in a preference datastore. Thepreference may be used to subsequently filter content that is to bepresented to the user.

In one aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a method forrecording a content preference for content to be presented in a mobiledevice. Content is received into the device and parsed to determine oneor more content parameters of the first content. The content is thenpresented to a user of the device, e.g. by display, audio, etc. A usergesture is recorded and analyzed to determine a content-relatedpreference from the gesture. The preference is associated with one ormore of the content parameters and stored in a preference datastore.

The method may further comprise filtering content received into thedevice, in which parameters of the received content as used as a lookupto the preference datastore. Retrieved preferences may then be appliedto the content to filter the content so that filtered content may bepresented to the user.

In one aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a mobile deviceconfigured for communications with a data network and to receive contentfrom the data network. The mobile device may be provided with motionsensing capabilities and an application executable on at least oneprocessor of the mobile device. The application may be configured topresent content to a user of the mobile device, record a gesture-basedpreference in respect of the content, and store the gesture-basedpreference.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will now be made, by way of example only, to specificembodiments and to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a mobile communications system;

FIG. 2 depicts a process for filtering content to a mobile device;

FIG. 3 depicts a mobile device configured to record gesture-basedpreferences;

FIG. 4 depicts a process for filtering content; and

FIG. 5 depicts a process for recording gesture based preferences.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the Applicant's co-pending patent application Attorney Docket No.20080609.6 there is described a system and method directed towardutilizing gestures and available (external) resources to improve theexperience with the content received into a mobile device by redirectingthe content to remote devices. The present disclosure is directed towardfiltering the type of content that a user displays on their device.

In FIG. 1, there is shown a system 10 on which the gesture-preferencesbased methods may be implemented. The system includes a content server12, such as an ad server, that provides content through a network 14 tousers 19 at one or more mobile devices 16. The mobile device 16 may be anetwork enabled device configured to receive the content, such as amobile phone, smartphone or similarly web-enabled device. The mobiledevice 16 may also be tablet computer, netbook or similar mobilecomputing device. Also provided may be a gesture recording device 18.The gesture recording device 18 may be integrated with the mobile device16, such as an accelerometer or similar motion sensor. Alternatively orin addition, the motion sensor 18 may be a non-integrated device that islocally paired with the mobile device 18, e.g. via a short-rangecommunications protocol such as Bluetooth. Non-integrated motion sensorsmay include accelerometers, gyroscopes, or devices for measuring eyemovements. As will be described in greater detail below, the mobiledevice 16 may execute an application that enables a user 19 to provide agesture on the mobile device 16 or associated gesture sensor 18 towardsthe type of content presented so that a future filter towards thatcontent or similar content can be applied.

A process for filtering the content received into the mobile device 16is depicted in the flowchart 100 of FIG. 2. Initially, content isreceived from the content server 12 into the mobile device 16 (step101). The mobile device parses the content to determine one or morecontent parameters 102 and the content is presented to the user 19 (step103). At step 104, a user gesture is recorded with the gesture recordingdevice 18 and a content-related preference is determined from thisgesture (step 105). The content parameters are associated with thegesture 106, with the association being stored in a preference datastore(step 107). When further content is received into the mobile device 16(step 108), the further content is parsed to determine the contentparameters (step 109). This additional content may have been received aspart of the initial (step 101) interaction or as separate interaction ata different time. The content parameters may then be provided to thepreference datastore to retrieve preferences in relation to the furthercontent (step 110). Any retrieved preferences are then applied to thefurther content to filter the further content (step 111) before thefiltered content is presented to the user 19 (step 112).

The mobile device 16 is shown in more detail in FIG. 3. The mobiledevice 16 includes a parsing module 22 that initially receives thecontent from the content server 12. The parsing module 22 parses themeta-data provided with the content to determine the parameters of thecontent. Parameters may include, without limitation, a topic or category(such as sports, tools, clothing, etc.), a content format (such as text,graphics), a content type, (e.g. ad, coupon, survey). The meta-data canbe in a defined structure, such as name/value pairs or keyword listings.From the meta-data, the parsing module associates characteristics to thecontent by which a preference can be applied. For example, the parsingmodule could use the meta-data to assign parameters to the content of atopic of sports, presentation method of graphic image, and of type ad.Other content could have meta-data that the parsing module assignsparameters of a topic of sports, presentation method of graphic imagebut this time of type coupon.

The parsing module 22 passes the parsed content to a filter preferencesmodule 24. The filter preferences module 24 provides a preferencerequest 25 to a preference datastore 26. The preference datastore may bean integrated memory of the mobile device 16, as shown in FIG. 3.Alternatively, the preference datastore may be an off-device datastoreaccessed via the network 14 (FIG. 1). The preference datastore 26 usesthe content parameters as a lookup to determine whether any preferencesexist for those content parameters. Any preferences retrieved areprovided from the preference datastore 26 to the filter preferencesmodule 24 in a preference response 27.

The filter preferences module 24 applies any retrieved preferences tofilter the received content. The filtered content is then provided to apresentation module 28 that presents the filtered content to the user19, e.g. via a screen display or the mobile device or by audio throughthe speakers of the mobile device 16.

The filtering process is shown in more detail in the flowchart 200 ofFIG. 4. At step 201, the parsing module 22 receives the content which isthen parsed at step 202. If the content is invalid (determination 203),the user is informed (step 204) and the process ends 205. If the contentis valid, the filter preferences module 24 provides a preferencesrequest to the preferences datastore 26 that requests any filters thatmatch the content parameters. The initial configuration of thepreferences datastore 26 allows users to assign a preference to contentparameters and/or learn based on usage. For example, the mobile devicemay request initial preferences toward a topic (sports—positive,negative, none), toward a format (graphics—positive, negative, none),and toward a type (ad—positive, negative, none). Defaults may also beassigned to match all options within a parameter. For example, positivefor all topics. If conflicts occur between parameters, the filter topreferences module can be set to prompt the user for a preference orlearn based on previous preference responses indicating high probabilityof positive or negative responses. The filter preferences module appliesthe filters and if the content does not satisfy the positive or negativepreferences for the content to be passed, (determination 207), then thecontent is discarded (step 208). However, if the content matches thepreferences, then the content is displayed or otherwise presented (e.g.via audio) to the user (step 209). Once presented, the user may invoke agesture-based preference recording process, represented by step 210.

An example of a gesture-based preference recording process is depictedin the flowchart 300 of FIG. 5. When the user is presented with thecontent, the user may invoke the preference recording process in orderto record a filter for the content. After invoking the gesture process(step 301), the user performs a gesture (step 302) which is detected bythe gesture recognition module 32. If the gesture is not valid(determination 303), the user is informed 304 and allowed to re-performthe gesture. If the gesture is valid, the gesture is passed to a gestureanalyzing module 34 which determines whether the gesture indicates apreference to store, for example whether the gesture is a positive ornegative preference in respect of the content (decision 305) or whetherthe gesture indicates ignore/skip storing a preference (e.g. where auser may have thought they wanted to make a gesture only to change theirmind).

The positive or negative preference for the content is then stored inthe preference datastore 26 (step 306) so that this preference may beapplied to subsequent content and then the process terminates 307

The gesture recognition module 32 may be built into the mobile device16. The gesture is initiated by a command (either a button push or avocal command). In one embodiment, the gesture (after initiated) is amovement of the device itself that may be recorded by the gesturerecognition module 32. The gesture recognition module 32 may include amotion sensor, such as an accelerometer, digital compass, etc., as wellas processing circuitry for interpreting the output of the motion sensoras a gesture. Examples of motion that could be interpreted as a gestureinclude slow shaking left to right vs. slow shaking up and down.Additional gestures could include a long movement in a particulardirection, move and hold for a period of time in a particular directionor movement in the form of an arc vs. straight line. A gesture is arepeatable distinct movement that can be interpreted as including one ormore responses.

The gesture recognition module 32 determines if a gesture has occurred.This includes detecting some motion and assigning properties to themotion or action. These properties may include direction, time, distanceand angle. Once the properties can be determined, the properties arepassed from the gesture recognition module 32 to the gesture analyzingmodule 34.

The gesture analyzing module 34 receives the gesture and associates itwith content parameters of the content that has been presented to theuser. The gesture analyzing module 34 takes a set of properties relatedto a gesture and determines if they correspond to a valid gesture onrecord. In this regard, the gesture analyzing module may include agesture store that associates gestures with indications. The gesturestore may have a predefined list of gestures that represent apreference. Alternatively or in addition, the gesture analyzing module34 may provide an interface that allows the user to configure howgestures are associated with indications and actions. For example, sideto side motion may be defined as a negative preference indication. Agesture indicating up and down movement may be defined as a positivepreference indication.

In one embodiment, the motion sensor may be a separate device that islocally paired with the mobile device 16, e.g. via Bluetooth or somesimilar communication protocol, that enables the output of the motionsensor to be analyzed by the gesture analyzing module 34 within themobile device. In one embodiment, the locally paired device may be adevice for measuring eye movements. Tracking of eye movement could occurusing sensors in specially adapted glasses worn by a user while viewinginformation and communicated back to the mobile device. For example, apair of sun glasses which can track eye movement can communicate suchmovement to a mobile device using Bluetooth technology. When a user ispresented an ad, the user's eye movements could drift down to indicate anegative preference to the ad. The mobile device will record thepreference as if the gesture occurred on the mobile device. Apositive/favorable preference could be indicated by looking up while thead is visible. The content server 12 provides content to the mobiledevice 16 via the network 14 in a known and conventional manner. While agesture can be the movement of the mobile device, the gesture could alsobe the amount of time a user's eyes remain on the particular componentsof the content.

In one embodiment, gestures may be divided into degrees that can be usedto rank the strength of a preference. For example, a strong/fastmovement could be of higher rank toward a preference. Ranked preferencesmay be used to provide a higher degree of granularity in the filteringprocess. For example, a user may provide a strong preference againstgraphics content but a lower ranked preference toward sport content.Thus, the filter preferences module 24 would be able to decide thatcontent containing sports images would not be presented to the userwhile sports text content would be presented.

To minimize user interaction, the gesture is typically all that isneeded to determine a preference. As more preferences are collected, thesystem can determine possible “habits/interests” for future information(e.g. the user seems to respond negatively to clothing ads withoutcoupons sent only in text format). This gives the user control over thecontent that is displayed to them independently of 3^(rd) partyinvolvement, such as from the ad content provider. In the presentApplicant's earlier patent application, Attorney Docket No. 20080218.6,the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, therewas described a system in which user preferences were communicated to anad server, thereby enabling the ad server to filter the content that waspushed to the user. The disadvantage of such as a method is that itreduces the privacy of the user. The present method allows the ad serverto continually publish the same content and let the receiver remainanonymous and filter the content locally. The preferences maintained inthe mobile device under the present methods may be significantly moredetailed

The embodiments described above allow users of mobile devices to quicklyand easily filter relevant information such as advertising or productavailability based on simple gestures. There is a gain in how the userenters area-of-interest/preferences info, and in filtering (by area ofinterest and preferences) the wide array of information (e.g.advertisements) down to the most relevant info. This minimizes theamount of information displayed to the user.

By continuously applying the user's preferences to subsequent content,the preference filters may continually adapt and evolve so thatultimately, only the exact content that the user desires will bepresented to the user.

The components of the system 10 may be embodied in hardware, software,firmware or a combination of hardware, software and/or firmware. In ahardware embodiment, the gesture-based preferencing application may beexecuted on a processor of the mobile device. The application may bestored as a set of executable instructions in a memory of the mobiledevice that is operatively associated with the processor.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated inthe accompanied drawings and described in the foregoing description, itwill be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodimentsdisclosed, but is capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications, andsubstitutions without departing from the spirit of the invention as setforth and defined by the following claims. For example, the capabilitiesof the invention can be performed fully and/or partially by one or moreof the blocks, modules, processors or memories. Also, these capabilitiesmay be performed in the current manner or in a distributed manner andon, or via, any device able to provide and/or receive information.Further, although depicted in a particular manner, various modules orblocks may be repositioned without departing from the scope of thecurrent invention. Still further, although depicted in a particularmanner, a greater or lesser number of modules and connections can beutilized with the present invention in order to accomplish the presentinvention, to provide additional known features to the presentinvention, and/or to make the present invention more efficient. Also,the information sent between various modules can be sent between themodules via at least one of a data network, the Internet, an InternetProtocol network, a wireless source, and a wired source and viaplurality of protocols.

1. A method for filtering content received into a mobile device, themethod comprising: receiving first content into the mobile device;parsing the first content to determine one or more content parameters ofthe first content; presenting the first content to a user of the mobiledevice; recording a user gesture with at least one gesture recordingdevice associated with the mobile device; determining a content-relatedpreference from the gesture; associating the content related preferencewith the one or more content parameters; storing the association in apreference datastore; receiving second content into the mobile device;parsing the second content to determine one or more second contentparameters of the second content; providing the one or more secondcontent parameters to the preference datastore to retrieve one or morepreferences in respect of the second content; filtering the secondcontent in accordance with the retrieved one or more preferences; andpresenting the filtered second content to a user of the mobile device.2. The method of claim 1 wherein the content related preferencecomprises a positive preference, and wherein filtering the secondcontent comprises applying the positive preference to determine contentto present to the user.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the contentrelated preference comprises a negative preference, and whereinfiltering the second content comprises applying the negative preferenceto determine content to not present to the user.
 4. The method of claim1 wherein determining the content-related preference comprises receivingan input from the user of the mobile device in association with thegesture that indicates the content-related preference.
 5. The method ofclaim 1 comprising: retrieving one or more first preferences from thepreference datastore in respect of the one or more parameters of thefirst content; filtering the first content in accordance with the one ormore first preferences; and presenting filtered first content to theuser.
 6. The method of claim 1 comprising: recording a second gesture inrespect of the filtered second content, the second gesture indicating apreference in respect of the filtered second content; and storing thepreference for the filtered second content as indicated by the secondgesture.
 7. The method of claim 1 comprising invoking a preferencerecording application that enables a user to record a gesture-basedpreference.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the preference datastorecomprises a memory of the mobile device.
 9. The method of claim 1wherein recording a user gesture comprises recording motion of themobile device.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein recording a usergesture comprises recording motion of a device locally paired with themobile device.
 11. The method of claim 10 wherein recording a usergesture comprises recording eye movement of the user.
 12. The method ofclaim 1 wherein recording a user gesture comprises recording a degree ofmovement, the method comprising ranking a preference based on the degreeof movement.
 13. A mobile device configured for communications with adata network and to receive content from the data network, the mobiledevice comprising: at least one motion sensor; and an applicationexecutable on at least one processor of the mobile device, theapplication configured to: present content to a user of the mobiledevice; record a gesture-based preference in respect of the content; andstore the gesture-based preference.
 14. The mobile device of claim 13comprising a memory for storing a plurality of gesture-basedpreferences.
 15. The mobile device of claim 14 wherein the applicationis configured to: retrieve one or more gesture-based preferences fromthe memory; apply the one or more gesture-based preferences to contentreceived into the mobile device to filter the content; and presentfiltered content to the user.
 16. A method for recording a contentpreference for content to be presented in a mobile device, the methodcomprising: receiving content into a mobile device; determining one ormore content parameters of the first content; presenting the firstcontent to a user of the mobile device; recording a user gesture with atleast one gesture recording device associated with the mobile device;determining a content-related preference from the gesture; associatingthe content related preference with the one or more of the contentparameters; and storing the content related preference in a preferencedatastore.
 17. The method of claim 16 comprising: recording a usergesture; associating a preference indication with the recorded usergesture; and storing the preference action in association with the usergesture in a gesture analyzing module.
 18. The method of claim 17wherein determining a content-related preference from the gesturecomprises using a stored preference indication associated with agesture.
 19. The method of claim 18 comprising associating a positivepreference indication with a first user gesture.
 20. The method of claim19 comprising associating a negative preference indication with a seconduser gesture.